The way Gracie Abrams keeps being pushed on me by the Al Gore rhythms I'm convinced this must be some kind of poorly conceived marketing strategy a la Maude Apatow
I think she has some advantages by having wealthy parents, but absolutely not enough to completely skyrocket her career. I think her parents definitely would’ve pitched in some money to create merch, to create vinyls (those are expensive to mass produce), and to book venues for tours. Interscope might’ve signed her because they knew that in the contract, they can ask Gracie to self-fund many things meaning there’s zero risk for signing her. Getting a record deal is half the battle these days, and I’d imagine it was easy for her to secure one. I dunno, I’m making all of this up, I know nothing. It’s also possible her dad contributed $0 and she did it all herself. I really don’t know. But at the end of the day, her dad could throw as much money as he wants - that doesn’t matter if fans don’t want to spend their money on you. You need to actually be a genuinely good artist in order to actually blow up. And money can’t buy you talent. So I think she definitely had some help but that help would mean nothing if she wasn’t the solid writer and performer that she is. I mean, look at someone like Paris Hilton - she had money (just like Gracie’s family) but failed miserably at launching a music career. So talent does play a MUCH bigger role than just money. You can’t just buy yourself a career. I’ve also seen interviews where she gets asked about her dad and she stops smiling and looks so uncomfortable. Almost like she doesn’t want that to be the narrative because it detracts from all the hard work she has put in herself.
Gracie was chosen to support the biggest musical tour in history which is a major exposure opportunity (Sabrina, another Eras tour supporting act, has similarly seen a mainstream breakthrough in the past year) and has a feature on her debut album from one of the most popular artists in the world. Not to mention, she was granted immediate access to top producers and marketing opportunities that artists of a similar stature wouldn't be able to receive. No doubt she is committed to making it in the industry, but to pretend that her success isn't entirely dependent on the privileges she has been showered with is dismissive.
